ITHACA, N.Y. – The Ithaca College men's basketball team got back in the win column on Tuesday evening when it returned to the hardcourt at Ben Light Gymnasium to face Route 13 rival Elmira College. On the strength of a monster opening half, the Bombers pulled away from the Soaring Eagles early and held off the visitor's comeback bid late for an 83-67 victory, which snapped a six-game slide heading into the evening.
 
Ithaca had three players score 20-plus points for the second time this season. Leading the charge was sophomore guard Matt Flood, who poured in a career-high and game-high 23 points. He went 6-of-13 from the field, which included 3-for-6 shooting from three-point range, while he added 8-of-10 shooting at the charity stripe. He filled out his stat-stuffing line with seven rebounds, four assists, three blocks, and one steal.
 
Freshman guard Riley Thompson continued to establish himself as a sharp shooter for the Bombers. He scored 21 points, going 7-of-12 from the field and 4-for-6 from beyond the arc. Junior guard Marc Chasin chipped in 20 points, six rebounds, and five assists.
 
In the low post, sophomore Peter Ezema pitched in a double-double effort with 14 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. He also collected three of IC's six steals in the contest.
 
Ithaca pulled away in tonight's almost right off the hop. Although Elmira scored the first two buckets of the night, IC strung together a 17-0 run mostly powered by the white-hot shooting for Thompson. The rookie poured in nine points during the streak, which included a pair of triples, with one turning into a four-point play after an added free throw.
 
While a Nicky Sim bucket snapped a 4:56 scoreless drought for the Soaring Eagles, a subsequent 9-1 run by the Bombers blew open the lead 26-7 at the midway point of the half. Thompson continued to rain triples from distance, knocking down two more from well-beyond the arc. He would finish 4-for-5 in the half for a game-high 15 points at the break.
 
Ithaca also began to benefit from Chasin, who began to heat up with an old-fashioned three-point play to cap the 9-1 scoring run. He finished with 13 points in the opening stanza.
 
The Bombers' defense gave the Soaring Eagles fits down the stretch, which the home side converted into another big run. Chasin, Ezema and Flood each notched four points during a 16-3 run over a 6:43 span down the back stretch of the first half opened the lead as wide as 42-14 with 3:10 remaining in the first. Ithaca took a 44-19 lead to the break.
 
Ithaca held the visitors to a season-low 25-percent shooting (8-of-32) in the first half of play, while the 19 points also marked a season low for opponent points at the break. Conversely, IC shot a scalding 46.7-percent (14-of-30) in the opening frame.
 
The lead swelled as wide as 30 points during the beginning moments of the second half. Flood nailed a deep corner triple and followed with a put back of his own miss on the ensuing possession to make the score 51-21 with 17:40 remaining. The second-year guard went on to finish with 19 points after halftime.
 
Despite the sizeable deficit, the Soaring Eagles battled back with a 19-5 run, as their premiere rookie scorer Alex Ischiropoulos began to heat up. The freshman scored 11 of his team-high 21 points during the scoring spurt, which cut the gap to 56-40 with 11:55 to play.
 
However, Flood was able to stave off the Elmira charge with clutch buckets down the stretch. He scored 10 straight points for Ithaca over a 2:12 stretch with under five minutes remaining to, capping the run with an old-fashioned three-point play to re-up the IC advantage to 21 points at 79-58.
 
Ithaca finished with 45-percent (27-for-60) shooting in the contest, which included a 36.8-percent (7-for-19) mark from three-point range. The Bombers finished with a substantial 17-to-9 advantage in assists and 8-to-3 lead in blocks.
 
Ithaca returns to action this weekend when it welcomes Hartwick College on Saturday, February 11. Opening tip at Ben Light Gymnasium is slated for 4:00 p.m.